The Hidden Strengths of General Motors

With a big dividend of nearly 5% and strengthening sales, General Motors (GM) looks like a company in recovery. After the hardest year in recent memory in 2008, GM is finally turning things around.

GM’s net operating cash is up 51%, and its net income is booming quarter-to-quarter at a growth rate of over 300%. The business is exporting more cars to China even as US sales pick up considerably. General Motors is also on track to deliver an earnings of over $4 per share this year, as compared to just $1.64 last year.

With all of that to look forward to, it’s no wonder that GM is rated as a buy by most analysts.

The company has strong prospects for the future, and it’s likely that its share price will pick up steam as it announces its earnings next quarter. Right now, General Motors is trading below itsIPO price but it won’t be for much longer.

PayPal (PYPL) Weakens After a Strong IPO

After a recent spinoff from EBay (EBAY), PayPal (PYPL) found itself on the upswing. That’s all been changing this month, as the web finance giant loses steam in the marketplace. PayPal is down over 16% from highs of almost $41 per share to today’s close of $30.63. The company stock is well below the IPO price of $37.

There are a few reasons why PayPal is falling, and almost none of them are related to its business, which is booming by all accounts. Investors are worried about long-term leadership at the company, as well as plans for the future. Although the company is currently very competitive in online payment processing, it seems to have lost ground to services like Apple Pay in the mobile market, and is facing stiff competition in payment processing by upstart Square.

Corn Bounces as We Hit Harvest Season

In a bit of good luck for farmers, the futures price of corn has been up over 7% this month. That’s excellent news, especially since most farmers in the midwest are getting ready to harvest their fields. Other commodities haven’t fared so well, and the general trend is a long, slow decline in the futures market.

One other commodity that has been bucking this trend lately is gold. As the stock market becomes more volatile, it’s traditional for investors to look to gold as a port in the storm. Although the futures price of gold is down big from the beginning of the year, this past month has marked a turnaround for the precious metals segment of the marketplace.